Together
by Paz Enai
Summary: AC 197, the Gundam Boys go their own ways. Duo is a mechanic on L2, and Wufei is a Preventer stationed on Earth. But what's going on at L2 X1722...Wait, that's where Duo Lives!2x5plus2 revised version
1. Chapter 1

Together, Part 1 Paz Enai

Disclaimers: I won nada, not the store names (ecxept, later, GothicFaszion), not the chars and not the orriginal plot they are from.. if i did i wouldnt be majoring in design and working at food service to pay it off.

* * *

Sally sat at her desk going over, once again the report that one of her officers had handed in. She was supposed to be reading it over and summarizing it for her superiors, but the black haired boy next to her, her partner, was making her anxious and overly concerned. Thus, her mind would wander and she would look up to him in an attempt to discern what it was he was thinking. This time he saw her, "Sally, don't you have a report to file? You're beginning to bother me. Do your work so I will be able to concentrate on mine."

He turned back away to the report that he was filing about a base one of his officers had found in the Lake Victoria region. It was his responsibility to make sure that all the important details got to his supervisor, and he didn't want some woman to louse up his report.

"Ah, I'm sorry Wufei," she replied, "It's just that this report was written so poorly." A lie, but she didn't want him to know what was really bothering her. She knew Wufei would believe her, he tended to trust her more than most other people, and she liked that, but it always made her feel like an awkward second-mother.

Since the war ended she had noticed that a certain light had faded from his eyes. She wasn't sure what it was at first. She knew it wasn't because he would never see the other pilots again, since he had never really partnered up with them too much in the first place. As time went on, he seemed to act a more reclusive, as if he was trying to ignore the fact that he had ever had any glow in his eyes at all. Of course, he never talked to Sally about it, but after working with him for almost two years, she was sure that she understood him well enough that if she had just paid close enough attention she could figure out what it was on her own.

Of course, this proved futile and she was somewhat forced to bring in back up. She asked another co-worker of theirs; a woman especially fond of the young Chinese boy, if she could look for anything she thought was odd about his behavior. The woman, not much older than Sally, agreed since she was always trying to engage in conversation with him anyway.

It was a good two weeks before the woman approached Sally with anything, and when she came she was flushed and full of tears. She exclaimed that she didn't know why she ever thought that she had a chance at him.

"His heart's already taken! I never knew...He must hate me for following him around all this time."

It took Sally a good hour to calm the woman down and get her to explain what had been the matter. The woman replied, "I went to go ask him for something I needed from his files for a report I was assigned. When I stepped in to his office he was on the phone so I waited just outside the door. He was facing the other way, so he didn't know I was there. When I heard him talk… It was as if he was free to say whatever it was that he wanted. I've never heard him sound so happy. He told the person on the line things he would never even hint here at work. He explained to the person that 'Yes, Sally's okay...No I haven't gone on any dates here, why would I? What have you been up to up in that colony that you live in? Really? How are your friends at the shop?' He also asked about some woman. I think her name was Hilde, yeah 'Do you still live in that apartment with Hilde?' " Again the woman broke into tears. "If I had known that he had already cared so much for someone else I would have never... I would never..."

Sally was taken back by several things that the woman had told her: the first was indeed what he had told and asked the person on the line, the next was the person knew her, maybe even personally, then there was the fact of the colony, and Hilde. It had to be Duo. But why would Wufei act like this on a phone call to Duo? Or had Duo called him? He never asked anyone anything of the sort; besides, didn't he _hate_ the braided boy?

"Some thing's weird here. Can you please keep your eye on him still? I know it might be a little painful for you, but quite frankly, this makes me more worried than ever."

* * *

"Hey, man! Thanks for letting me use the phone! When the bill comes I promise to pay for that call, it was to Earth, so it'll cost a lot. You can have it in writing if you want" said Duo to one of his co-workers at the shop.

It was an unusually hot and muggy day on the colony, so the lot of men on the job at this hour had all agreed in loud protest that the weather center had to be on the fritz again.

"Man another stinking hot day!" one of them exclaimed, wiping the sweat from his brow. "If I had known that the colonies would be like this, I would have stayed on Earth!"

Jeff agreed, "Yeah it is too hot." He looked at the phone that Duo had just returned to him and checked the time on the call. Half an hour. Duo would get no break to eat today. He wondered who the hell on Earth Duo could have been talking to for half of an hour. _What the HELL has gotten into that boy_ he thought as he saw the chipper version of the boy that he hadn't seen for almost two years. _Does he have a girl back on Earth that he hasn't told us about? No way, he lives with that cute girl that used to supply us with parts, doesn't he? He isn't cheating on someone from Earth is he?_ But Jeff quickly pushed this out of his head. There was no way that Duo would cheat on someone; he was too pure and honest. Then what was it? He never acted this way when Hilde came by the workshop.

Trying to get back to work Jeff put the phone in his pocket and put his gloves back on. He went over to the out-dated Mazda and asked if the crew had found any reason why it wasn't running yet. The owner wanted it back ASAP, so he was angry when they replied with a no. This helped to erase his thoughts for a while and after some deliberation they found the problem and started work to get it repaired.

When they, his crew, had finished with this car he told them that he was going to take his lunch-break now, if they needed him they knew to just call him over. He watched from his makeshift desk as his crew, Duo one of them, started to work on the next automobile, a much newer model than the Mazda that they had just repaired.

Almost two years ago Duo had come into the shop, at only 16, and asked if he could get a job. Jeff remembered his Super going nuts at the boy for even asking. That year was Jeff's first year as a crew manager. After watching his Super tear the boy to shreds for almost twenty minutes, Jeff left his crew to aid the boy, who's expression hadn't changed the entire time. He'd had this exasperated look on his face when he had come in, and it was still there when Jeff entered his Supers office. He must've gone to multiple shops before this one and gotten much the same answer from all of them, a pity.

Jeff remembered how he had asked his Super for permission to speak and then turned to the boy without waiting for the OK.

"Hey, kid, why do you wanna work at a mechanical shop? Don'cha want to work somewhere a little cleaner? You're young, what's wrong with fast food, or a supermarket?" he remembered how his heart had nearly cried for the boy when he answered:

"Because I'm an uneducated orphan. I have no green card so I can't get work at any place like that. Besides, the markets won't let me work because when I was growing up I had a bad record of stealing. The only thing I can think to do is work mechanics. I was in the war and was responsible for my own suit, so I know what I'm doing. Also, before you ask it, I can't go to college without a high school diploma, so I can't even go to college to learn for a better job, not that I would have the money to pay for it anyway. Does that answer your questions and those not yet asked?" he had replied, straight faced looking so thickly into Jeff's eyes that he swore the boy was able to see his thoughts.

Jeff's Super had been absolutely silent, other than an uneasy stir he had made at his unorganized desk. After a few more moments of silence he the Super said, "Okay, you're hired, but you have to show me what you can do first. If you are able to do exactly what it is that needs to be done than I'll officially hire you, but for now, you're off the books, agreed?"

Duo had spun to face the Super and his expression had changed dramatically. "Are you KIDD'N me? Really? I'm hired!" He had laughed so whole heartedly that Jeff found himself smiling. His super was still not amused but he at least looked like he now couldn't be held responsible if the boy was lying. He had given the kid a shot, if he failed it was his own doing, and yet, Duo was still here. The Super would boast to all his other new employees how Duo was his child prodigy, at almost half the age at most the other men and nearly twice as effective.

Jeff looked down at his watch. He had gone past his half an hour break by 5 minutes, so he would make himself stay a little late again today, not that he wouldn't end up staying late anyway. It was usually him and Duo who would stay to do final touches on most of the late night repairs to get them out for the customers to get them the next morning just so that more could come in.

* * *

Sally sat as usual, at the desk next to Wufei and started to read her latest report. Since the incident with the phone Chang had returned, mostly, to his usual self, although there was still a hint of the shine that had once been in his eyes. Feeling unsure of what to do Sally had decided last night to ask him if anything interesting had happened lately, but he replied with the usual "Hmm? Woman, I have work to do, if you would please be quiet."

Sally was sick of this. Sure, she wasn't his mother, sure it was technically none of her business, but how could she work with someone who wouldn't even talk about _anything_?

"Wufei, I am sick of this. Why don't you speak up, huh? I'm sure there are some things that are best kept to one's self, but you can't keep it all in. There is only so much room in your heart to hold things. You're going to end up hurting yourself," she pleaded.

Wufei looked at her sharply and glared like she had never seen him do before. "Woman, you are prying far to deeply for your own good. Whatever ideas you have in your head are yours alone, don't go throwing them at me, as I do _not_ wish to hear them. If you want to say something, I hope it is about your report, and not about trying to find out things about me. If I find out that you have been snooping I will demand a transfer, then you can worry all you like, but I won't be a part of it. Does that sound like something you want 'mother' " he threw the word mockingly at her, sure that it would end the discussion.

"WU-FEI, Goddamnit! What has gotten into you? You used to be sure and collected, now you're just a work-obsessive hermit. Why don't you just talk to someone about… something, anything would be nice. What you think about your report, about the weather about them goddamn _Yankees_, anything for crying out loud," she exclaimed in a loud voice. The office door was closed, so no one outside could hear, thankfully. She stood up and walked to the other side of the small room, "Just tell me something so I don't _have_ to worry," she said lowly, all the strain of watching him seal himself away from the rest of humanity thick in her expression.

He let out a deep sigh and his expression turned soft, his eyes focusing on his paper, "I'm sorry Sally, but I just can't"

* * *

FINAL EDITED VERSION! 


	2. Chapter 2

Together Part 2 Paz Enai

Warnings: Uhm, language? Eventual 2x5x2, if i ever fini (YELL AT ME TO GET A MOVE ON! XO)

* * *

Jeff had come in early again to find Duo already working. Duo hadn't noticed Jeff come in, which was very unusual. Duo had exceptional hearing and usually looked up from his work long enough to see who had come in.

Since the phone call a week ago he was pretty much back to his old self, he was more chipper, though still reasonable and hard-working. Jeff walked over to him and tapped him lightly with the toe of his shoe, making the boy jump a foot from his squat in front of the maintenance armor that he was working on.

"Whoa, jumpy today? What's the matter kid? Haven't seen you do that before."

"... A friend called last night...But it wasn't too good. God if only I could..." He let out a heavy, un-characteristic sigh and Jeff immediately realized the weight of the situation. Duo was never this silent or serious unless it was well over his head. Jeff squatted down next to the armor with him. They were the only two workers in, it was, after all, only 6 AM; another thing that worried Jeff because Duo's shifts always started at 10 since he hated waking up early.

"Duo, when did you come in this morning?" The boy didn't respond at first so he changed the question "What's the matter? What happened that you needed to get your mind off of it by coming back in well before your shift started?"

There was silence at first, but the tension thick in the air made it clear that Duo really wanted to talk. He wanted someone to turn to, it was also clear that he didn't know what to say.

"Look, we can go in the Supers office before he gets in and talk if you would like. I have the keys to his room. He won't be in until 11 today, something he has to do for his daughter, or something."

Duo looked over to him and then backs down at the maintenance armor and nodded.

* * *

When Sally came into work that day she would have sworn that she'd died. Upon opening her office she found Wufei in his chair already, nothing unusual there. The problem was rather that he had his face hidden in his arms-which were wrapped around the knees he had pulled to his chest. A wonder he found room to fit like that on the small swivel chair, but a greater worry was why.

Sally immediately slammed the door shut. So what if it was loud, she didn't want anyone to see him like this. He looked up shortly and then put his head back. Had he been…crying? No, not actually crying, but...

"Holy crap Wufei… What happened?" she said in a slow, careful and caring voice. She knew she wouldn't be able to force anything out of him, but she was also genuinely concerned.

He shook his head, still in his arms.

"Wufei, seriously, what happened? There is no way in Hell that I am going to let you not talk now. There is clearly something wrong" She paused. "Does it have anything to do with Duo?"

His back tensed at he mention of the name, barely, but if you knew Wufei you picked these things up. Slowly he answered.

"I kind of, ah, got in a huge argument… And, ah… I've been here all night, actually. I was too upset, with myself, to leave…" he trailed off.

Sally gaped at him for a second before she regained control. Sure, Wufei was a workaholic, but he would never neglect his body with lack of sleep, he knew how to take care of himself better than that. She walked over to him and gave him a hug. There was no sound. He sivered once, but that was the only reaction she recieved from him. _What had happened between him and Duo that would make this happen?_

Slowly calming down he softly pushed her away and rubbed his eyes, possibly to clear his vision to the light of the day that he was only just acknowledging. She locked the door and secured the window screen in its usual pulled-down position and turned to him.

"Ahm, well." He let out a heavy sigh, "I know that you and Noin and just about everyone else thinks the same thing… that I don't really like any of the other pilots and all. Truth be told, I think I care about them more than I do about myself… That's why I got so… I don't know, upset I guess, when I found out what happened on L2 X1722…."

"Isn't that where Duo lives?" She said slowly. He nodded.

"Well…Actually, I was more or less snooping, but I found out that something happened to Hilde… Duo had mentioned something; the others and I keep semi-regular emails. He never said what happened though. Anyway, it turns out she's in the hospital. Has been for some time, actually… I called to asked what had happened and… Well, we got into an argument. He got mad at me for prying. I was mad that he didn't tell us all how serious it was… That was around midnight… He hung up on me and I've been here since."

"Why were you here until midnight in the first place?"

"I was 'prying'… I wanted to see what I could get from her medical records to find out what was wrong… I feel so, unclean." Silence for a long while "She's probably going to die, you know. They don't know what's wrong, much less how to cure it. It's severe too; she's been in critical for a week and a half. He never even gave the impression that there was anything wrong!"

* * *

"Wait, you're telling me she's in critical, and has been for almost two weeks?"

A nod in response.

" - And that the person you care most about called you last night because they found out and then you got into an argument?"

A nod.

"You hung up-"

Nod.

"And have been here since 2 am?"

Nod.

"And that you and Hilde are _not_ seeing each other, never have been and never will because you're gay?"

Reluctant nod.

"Damn Duo, and I thought I knew all there was to know about you. How were you so able to hide that there was anything wrong with her? She's like you're little sister, then, isn't she?"

One last nod was all the response, followed by a few moments of silence until Duo finally spoke up. "That phone call I made to Earth last week… It was to the guy I have… Well, he's my wish. It'll never happen, he's too straight laced, but I guess that's part of the reason I'm so… He's just so fascinating. I missed him so much, that's why I called him. Just his voice, it was all I needed. I mean, " he paused to laugh at himself in pity, "I haven't heard his voice in two years. I miss im."

"I know how you feel, granted it was towards a woman, but love is love no matter who it's aimed for. So about this argument, did you go overboard, other than the hanging up part?"

"…yeah, pretty much the whole thing. He mentioned looking into Hilde's case, finding out about her condition and I just went off the wall, I mean, you know. It's not like I asked him to worry about me. I don't even know why he pried! I just…" He slumped over and put his head in his hands, propped up on one of his knees. He was seated in a corner of the office next to Jeff, who was in the Super's chair. "God, I've just been so confused since he called…"

"Yeah, I would be too. The love of my life suddenly gives me a call and tells me that they know about some traumatic thing that's going on and I never told anyone about it. I would be confused too. You think, maybe, he likes you too?"

He looked up to Jeff, "You mean as more than just a possessive friend who can legally look up anything he wants because he's a Preventer and can find a good reason to get into anyone's case? Naw. He's like that for all of us, I gather."

"Us? Wait he's a Preventer? How old's this guy?"

"Same age as me," He said sitting up straight again. "He's been in the Preventers since the war, like me being here. And the 'us' is me and my select few best friends with common goals. We, uh, fought together in the war."

Jeff let out a whistle. _Nowhere else but in a post war world could you find veterans of 18, rather 16, when the war ended, who worked at highly specialized jobs. _

"Preventers pretty strict about who they let into their ranks, must be a whiz."

"Yeah, certified genius. Heh, it's kind of cute actually. Think about it, an uneducated thief and a Chinese warrior-class genius. Fuck. Not going to happen…unfortunately"

* * *

"So if you're so concerned about how he feels why not give him another call?"

"What, so he can hang up on me again? Sorry, Sally, it's not going to happen. I'm sure he wants me dead. Damn, it's not my fault I care so much about them all! They just…"

"Make you worry?" She offered and he nodded.

"Yeah. I mean, look where we come from, we're all completely different but we all have one thing in common. The Gundams. Those Gundams left a similar impact on all of us. It'd be idiotic to ignore that we can't keep the war out of our heads. I'm just-"

"Now do you understand why I got so worried about you? We're pretty similar when it comes to wishing the best for our loved ones." He blushed a little when she said 'loved ones'.

"I don't 'love' them Sally, I care for them."

"That's what love is, jeez, you really are just a kid sometimes." This merited a classic Wufei glare. "Look, why don't-"

"Wait a minute. What do you mean we 'are pretty similar' have you been… _spying_ on me!"

She continued, smiling a little at his quick perception, "Go up to his colony and talk to him, I'll even ask The Gordon to assign you some kind of mini-mission as cover."

"Her name is Patricia Gordon, there's no reason to call her 'the Gordon'-"

"I'm going to get you a mission right now. In fact, it's going to be in Duo's section, perhaps at the hospital Hilde's at, so you can visit her too. Maybe you'll be able to see him there 'coincidentally' and can apologize, and go from there." She said a little too chipper for Wufei's comfort.

With a sigh he replied "Alright, go make up a mission for me, if it will make you feel better."

"It will, and it will also make you feel better, I can tell," she said, greatly relived that for the first time in years Wufei had actually told her something about his inner workings.

* * *

"If you're so worried why don't you give him a call?"

"Who, Wufei? Naw, I like my head where it is man. That would be like sentencing myself to death," he exclaimed, visibly better than before. The talking helped him get it all off his chest, even if just a little.

By now there were other men working around the shop, all wondering, no doubt, why the two of them had been in the office all morning. It had been a long talk, Duo had almost cried twice, Jeff had felt his heart wrench the whole damned time, but things were a little better now. Tomorrow morning the two of them decided they would to go visit Hilde and see how she was doing and then they went off to work.

* * *

FINAL EDITED VERSION! _please review! tell me to get my ass in gear, to get a move on, to stop slowing down the herd, to.. you get the picture..._


	3. Chapter 3

Together Paz Enai

**Part 3

* * *

**

Wufei looked nervously out the window to the vast space beyond it, calculating how much longer it would take to get to the colony. He had already guessed correctly for his first transfer. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say, or think, or do once he saw Duo… if he even did. Sure he was going a little out of his way to see him, but it had only been last night since they had argued on the phone. The time difference made it so that even though he left this morning, he would be arriving on X1722 before he had taken off, a wonder, since he figured on 4 more hours of flight time, well, 4 hours 12 minutes and 11 seconds, if they maintained this velocity.

Once again he looked over the makeshift mission in his hands. If Duo ever got his hands on it he would know right away something was up. He knew that Wufei was a good employee, he made sure to mock him about it every chance he could. Good employees did _not_ get missions like this. This was the type of mission you would send a trainee on. Wufei was not a trainee. But he would do it out of necessity, to make up with Duo.

The man seated next to him fidgeted again, the fifth time since they took off a half an hour ago. It was making Wufei uneasy because with every shift the sleeping man took made him fall closer and closer to Wufei's seat. Not that he was a homophobe or anything. He just liked his personal space… Well, maybe he was a _little_ homophobic, but not intensely.

But that was one thing that made him most uneasy about going to X1722… He had always been suspicious of Quatre and Duo, that's why he had often stayed to himself, the others were usually together and he didn't wish to get himself into any unnecessary positions, namely a bed, with one of them. Quatre and Duo both had enough charm and perks to get him there without him realizing it, at least that's what he thought.

* * *

Again he had been unable to sleep. Was it normal to worry about a woman when you were exclusively unable to tolerate them? Duo supposed so. Besides, Hilde acted more like a man then most of the men he'd dated, which was pathetic because his dislike for girly men was almost as high as for women in general. It was just too much work to deal with that entire female hormone thing, or the imitation of it. Even Tomboys had estrogen and could get mighty annoying at least a few days every month. That's what he didn't like about women, at least for starters.

Turning over again in his bed he looked blankly at a hardly decorated wall. On the other side of that wall was Hilde's room, it had been vacant for two weeks today, ten of those days due to her severe critical condition. He wished he knew what was wrong with her. He felt partly to blame, like a big brother who had done his sibling wrong somehow by not being around for them when they had needed it.

Turning over again he was face to face with his clock again, and realized it was already 5:30. Nothing on L2 is open at 5:30, but he gave up completely on sleep. He just didn't seem very able to get sleep. Maybe 2 hours after work and showering, but not much else. He was just too wired. Especially now that he had gotten into a fight with Wufei.

Getting up he decided that it would be best to finally call and apologize. Unlike him in every way, but it was entirely his fault they had gotten into a fight in the first place. Wufei had just been concerned, nothing else.

'_You think, maybe, he likes you too?'_

Shaking the thought from his head he got to the phone, he wasn't wearing a shirt. Hilde would have yelled at him for making noise this early and then yelled at him for not having a shirt on in front of her.

'_Just cause you have no breasts doesn't mean you can show off your manly chest! Other people have to look at that!'_

He frowned at not being able to physically hear her yell at him, he always got a kick out of her argument points. Picking up the phone he dialed the exchange operator and asked for a Mr. Chang Wufei's office phone, please.

* * *

"Hello?"

"Yo" said the teen as he gave a sort of half-salute on the vid-screen.

"Duo?"

"In the pixels. Is Wufei there?" He said almost trying to look over her shoulder through the screen.

"No he went on a mission this morning, why?" she said and gave him a blank face.

"I just wanted to talk to him. I was a real jerk the other day, I, uh… wanted to apologize. Don't laugh, I know its weird to hear me say that…"

"No, no, its okay, I understand. Actually truth-be-told he was awful the other day as well. He felt, and I shall quote, 'unclean' for prying into your personal life."

Duo just stared at her a moment then replied; "So he told you" She nodded slightly. "I see. All right. I guess I shouldn't be mad though; it was no good of me to keep it so secret. Not doing any good that way, right?" She nodded.

"Duo, I hate to say it but, you look awful, and where's your shirt?"

He half blushed at the mention of no shirt; he must not have realized he was standing far enough away from the phone to have enough of his chest showing to make that obvious. "Uhm, yeah, I was having trouble sleeping. Been worried sick about Hilde, you know?"

She nodded. "You're just like a big brother some times, you know that? Any idea what happened to her?"

"No clue, the doctors can't figure it out. Her symptoms change day to day. It's like, I don't know, every possible disease all at the same time fighting over who gets to show off today."

"Has anyone else come out with the same, well, diversity of symptoms?" she said noticing how he didn't fight being called a brother and recalling that any guy who was called a brother to their girlfriend would instantly fight the title.

_So they aren't together, that cleared that up._ She didn't like teenagers of the opposite sex living together if they were dating; it was too unstable.

"Nope, They keep doing checks on me since I live with her and all, but nothing."

"I see. Well hey, if you're interested he's doing a quick mission on your colony, he put off getting a flight until the last minute though, so he should be there in a few hours. Maybe you can meet him somewhere? I think his mission was at the hospital. It's a crummy job, but we're shorthanded right now so we had to send him, only one with all his reports done. You know how it is." He nodded. "All right, well I have get back to work now, but it was nice talking to you Duo. I hope everything works out."

"Me too. Well, bye Sal." He said and gave a farewell peace sign salute then the screen went dark. Sally let out a sigh, everything would work out all right after all.

* * *

As the ship pulled into the port Wufei looked at his watch, perfect as usual. He had to recalculate a few times during flight as the displacement and velocity had changed a few times, as he noted by watching the flight display on the back of the seat in front of him. He stirred uncomfortably in an attempt to wake the man who was using his shoulder as a pillow. Wufei couldn't help but feel weirded by the sensation of another person's body against his own. He finally pushed the man up and jerked him slightly and the man woke and looked around confusedly.

"We've arrived," Wufei said shortly trying to keep the blush of awkwardness off his face. He succeeded for the most part, but couldn't help but feel very odd anyway.

"Ah, thank you," and the man got up to get his carry-on bags from the over-head bin. Wufei let out a short sigh of relief and followed shortly after, making sure to let two or three other passengers get between him and the other man. His briefcase and duffel were all he had taken with him, so there was no need for him to go to the luggage claim.

He swiftly left the arrivals section and exited the spaceport hailing down a taxi; he wanted to leave that place as soon as he could. Several times he had tried to push the feeling of the other man off of his neck and shoulder, but it wouldn't go away so he tolerated it and stared out the window.

Arriving at his hotel he dropped his duffel off in the room and opened his briefcase, putting the file back in it and then went back out to his waiting taxi and drove off to the hospital.

* * *

Meeting Jeff at the corner next to the shop, Duo hopped into the passenger seat of Jeff's car. Duo didn't have a car of his own so Jeff had offered to drive to the hospital and, since they were both from different areas, they decided the shop was as good a place as any to meet.

On the ride over Duo was silent, with only gentle music playing in the background. Jeff respected the silence and drove at a steady pace, not wanting to rush. He felt as though getting to their destination too quickly would make Duo uncomfortable, and quite frankly it was bad enough without added stress. He lowered the music some more as they entered the parking lot and turned to the boy who was looking out the passenger window.

"How long you think we'll stay? The parking lot has time sensitive parking."

"Uhm, I'm not sure." After a pause he added, "I found out this morning that a friend of mine was arriving on the colony to do an inspection of something at the hospital…"

"Is it Wufei?" Jeff said without hesitation.

"Yeah… He was supposed to arrive this morning, or so his partner said. I called their office this morning to apologize… Let's say an hour or so? I can always invite him back to my place if we meet him here… I guess…"

Jeff wondered if inviting someone you have a sore crush on over to your house was a wise thing to do; but didn't say anything. He pulled into the short-term parking lot, parked and then followed Duo up the stairs into the hospital's front doors. Picking up their 'Visitors pass' buttons and they proceeded to the elevator.

Duo didn't speak more than was absolutely necessary. The nurses and staff seemed to recognize him; he must have come by a lot at this hour because they were all quiet and understanding.

When they got to the room the door was open, which Duo was startled at. "They only leave her door open when someone is in it."

They walked into the room and, sure enough, someone was in it. An average height, black haired man was standing at the foot of her bed with a folder in his hands. The folder looked as though it was the medical folder from the end of her bed.

Hearing the footsteps the young man turned and Jeff realized that the man was actually a rather attractive boy, about Duo's age. This must be Wufei, he thought. Dark eyes gave him a mysterious look and his strong frame was hardly concealed by the office shirt and slacks he wore. He had loosened his tie, and it hung loosely around his neck.

Jeff heard Duo gulp. He must not have expected seeing him so soon, or rather, was nervous now that they were face to face.

The boy took in Jeff carefully and then Duo before quickly turning to put the folder back into the rack.

"She's unconscious." He stated in a rather deep monotone voice, then turned back to them and stepped back so they could get into her side of the room.

Jeff walked in and Duo followed slowly, keeping his eyes on Wufei. Jeff Looked at her, the poor thing, she had become so skinny and her skin was so pale.

"My name is Chang Wufei," said the boy to Jeff and bowed slightly.

"Jeff, pleasure's all mine. I'm a friend of Duo's, we work together," Jeff introduced himself so Duo wouldn't have to. Jeff put out his hand and Wufei took it lightly, almost as if he didn't want to touch it, Jeff just assumed that he wasn't used to the custom. Then Wufei looked over to Duo who now had fixed his eyes on Hilde. He didn't look mad, but you couldn't tell sometimes with kids who fought a war. Feelings can be suppressed quite easily.

Jeff sensed the obvious tension in the room; he was a stranger on a thin strip of land that had room only for two friends. Unfortunately, those friends were in the middle of a misunderstanding.

"I'll be right back, I want to check something. I think that we got a call yesterday about something needing a repair downstairs. I shouldn't take too long." And he walked slowly out. If you're ready to leave for work before I get back go to the desk and send out a PA for me ok?" he said turning to look back into the room before stepping out.

* * *

FINAL EDITED VERSION 


	4. Chapter 4

Together Paz Enai

**Part 4

* * *

**

Duo just stared at Hilde, he was too afraid of his other options, for instance, looking at Wufei. His hands found each other and managed to weave themselves together without his consciousness and he slowly poked his thumbs together.

Wufei was silent as well. From what Duo could tell out of the corner of his eye, he was looking out the window. He looked so cute with his tie like that. Wait, when did Duo turn to look at him? He watched Wufei for a moment until Wufei turned to look back at him and directed his attention back to Hilde, then let out a sigh, as Wufei did likewise.

"Duo I-"

"Wufei -"

Silence. Duo sighed again and Wufei turned to look out the window again.

"Wufei, look, I'm really sorry for blowing up like C4 the other day. I was just… You know, it's hard, and all. I get a little stressed out sometimes and…yeah." Duo turned back to Wufei with a rather sad look on his face.

Wufei had a similar look on his face. He nodded.

"Yes, I was concerned, I shouldn't have pried. You just seemed…like you were hiding something. I have a bad habit of doing that, prying, when I think any of you guys are hiding something. Heero was mad at me for a long time for a similar reason, actually, so was Trowa and Quatre. Yeah, I got Quatre mad, that's how great of a friend I am… I'm sorry" He said and bowed again.

Duo felt bad for him. He really cared for all of them and ended up always hurting them. Kind-of reminded him of someone else he knew, someone with an incredibly long braid.

But he did that for all of them. He felt himself drown in that. Jeff's encouraging 'You think maybe he likes you?' torn to shreds. He knew this already. Wufei was as straight as a line. He had survived so far. Everything was ok, wasn't it?

"No… augh… Wufei, don't apologize, I should have told you. Hilde's like, my second digit… anything that happens to her happens to me, I should have told you, it was part of the promise we all made." Duo looked back at Wufei who seemed slightly surprised, but nodded.

Damn, looking at him and talking to him were two totally different things. He had changed a little, his voice was just a little deeper, and he was quite a few inches taller, not colony-stock like Duo was. Even so they were pretty close to the same height, Duo liked to think that he barely fit into that margin anyway. Exactly 3 cm too short to break it, he though to himself, it shouldn't even count, that was hardly over an inch.

Duo smiled lightly at the randomness of his thought. He was in a hospital, an awful thought to begin with, with his apartment-mate in severe critical condition and no diagnosis, and his almost-three-year crush with a loose tie and his first button undone. Duo cursed mentally...several times.

"Hey, Duo, uhm. I have a mission to do, but uh, if you want we could get together some time or something, while I'm here. I don't really have any work waiting for me at the office…and I have to wait for my flight anyway…"

"Oh yeah, Sally told me, I called this morning. I was going to apologize but you had already left. She said that there was a shortage of available staff so you got stuck with a kiddy job. What cha got to do?" Duo said and his face lost all sadness and instead turned more neutral then Wufei could ever remember it being.

"The? Oh yeah, some shipment inspection, nothing to elaborate, I should be done with both it and the paperwork by tomorrow sometime, but my return flight isn't for a few days. I guess they just wanted to keep me away from the office. I tend to be there, uh, a lot…"

Duo nodded. He was kind of the same way, give him something to take his mind off of everything else and he devoted his time to it. Though, Duo couldn't help but notice that Wufei was stumbling through his sentences, like there was something wrong. Duo tried to ignore it.

"Hey, you busy right now Wufei? I mean, do you need to do anything particular today? Or is it an 'at your leisure' type of job?"

"I can be free if you'd like. Why, is something wrong?" He said and shifted a little bit and looked to Hilde quickly before looking back at Duo.

"Well other than this, nothing's wrong. I was just, Heh. I was just concerned about you. Is something wrong?" Duo replied and also looked to Hilde. He leaned over and brushed some of her shoulder-length hair from her face. He kept his gaze on her and straightened up, ignoring the fact that as she shifted in her sleep more of her hair fell into her face.

"Nothing's wrong I just-"

"Wufei I've known you long enough to know when something's wrong. Your voice alone is a hint, your body language too. You can tell me now, or we can go somewhere and talk. Up to you, Jeff wouldn't mind driving us, trust me, he's a nice guy." Duo said quickly and slowly spun to face Wufei. He had a determined look on his face, it wasn't angry, but it was commanding, even with the demanding voice taunting at Duo from the corners of his mind.

Wufei nodded. "All right, we'll go talk somewhere, it doesn't matter. I guess I'm still just concerned about you two though. Maybe that's all it is."

He said and looked over to Hilde again who seemed to be having some mild chills.

"My place, your place or where? We can go eat if you haven't done that yet, or was the aircraft food good for once," He said with a slight smile. "If you don't say anything then it's my place," He said with an even bigger smile"

"Fine, your place it is, I've never had a protest to aircraft food anyway."

* * *

"So this is your place huh? It's pretty nice for an apartment." Wufei complimented as they walked into the sitting area.

"Thanks, it cost practically nothing when we got it and our contract with the landlord said that the payment terms were set unless you happened to not read the contract and didn't ask for it to be set. We pay pretty much the same thing now, which is awesome 'cause our neighbors pay their souls to live here." He replied as he walked into the kitchenette. "Want anything to drink or eat?" He offered looking through the wide window in the wall between the two rooms.

"Uhm, no, not really." Wufei replied as he stirred uneasily. _This is sure one hell of a way to find out if I was right about him being gay_, he thought. _Should have gone somewhere with people._

"Ok, you don't mind if I drink right? I mean, you won't arrest me or anything will you?" Duo said with a chuckle.

"Duo! You're underage!" Wufei protested spinning from the slightly messy but well furnished room to look at the other boy.

"Ah, only for one more year! Who gives a shit! Besides, we haven't been ID'ed yet, and we always go to the same place. It's not like I get drunk all the time either. In fact, I haven't since I got a job. That's two years." The other boy said with a firm nod.

Wufei didn't like the idea of letting a minor drink, but he knew nothing he said would stop Duo. In fact, he feared it would merely convince Duo to make Wufei drink as well.

Duo walked back into the room with what Wufei at first thought was a beer and they sat down across from each other, as Wufei noticed two bedrooms. Two occupied bedrooms. They were not together. Wufei felt even more uncomfortable now. He looked back to Duo who was taking a swig of his drink and put it on the table.

"Duo, Ai Ya! what are you doing?"

Duo stared blank faced. "Huh? Doing what?"

"I thought that you were drinking a beer, shen! You're underage to begin with, don't drink wine coolers!"

"Uhm, Wufei, have you ever had beer?" When there was no response Duo continued, "They taste kinda bad. These at least taste good. 'Sides, its not like I'm gonna have a six-pack in under, oh, eleven minutes. Calm down," he said as his hands pushed down the air in front of him.

Wufei just gave him a inquisitive glare and then slowly sat back, looking harshly at Duo who made a 'Hey I didn't do anything that wrong' defensive face and gently waved his hands in front of him to try to convince Wufei to calm down.

The car ride over had been nice Jeff seemed like a nice man, talking about all the things Wufei should do before he went back to earth, gladly listening to Wufei's input on happenings on Earth and that he had, in fact, come from a colony. Wufei wished they were still in the car, or that Jeff was here. In Wufei's mind, Jeff was clearly _not_ gay, and having at least one other straight person around would make him feel a lot better right about now.

"So what's going down Earth-side?" Duo asked, clearly just wanting to extricate the awkwardness Wufei was emitting.

"Not much, literally actually. Work been slow, we pretty much spend time going over reports. Other officers have been sent off to help regular police activity because there is a shortage of cops and an abundance of Preventers. It's actually rather pathetic." He said and closed his eyes thinking of all the redundant work he'd been assigned for the past few months. Thinking about work did get his mind off of the current situation, however, so he was happy to go into further detail about Sally and Noin and how he thought there was a secretary on his floor who fancied him.

"Really?" Duo asked, sounding too interested for Wufei's comfort. "What's she like?"

That was odd. Wufei had never really thought about her. He wasn't sure what to say actually. He never said anything about another person unless it was one of the other ex-pilots, like what he had done to get on Duo's bad side just the other day.

"Well… I don't know. I guess she's nice. She's about Sally's age though, so I never gave it a second thought…"

"Dude, don't sell me short, what does she look like, how does she walk, what does she wear, come on! I know you want to give me the details you have 'crush' written all over your face." Wufei thought he heard the slightest bit of reluctance in Duo's words but it could have just been paranoia kicking in.

"Well," He started with a sigh, "She's pretty I guess, I never thought of her like that before, but-"

"Nononono. You're still doing it wrong. Hair color, eye color, slim features, well defined, plump, tall, short. Details, man, not opinions, heh, you're such a rookie!" Duo exclaimed with a smile and sounded interested in what Wufei had to say.

Perhaps he _isn't_ gay, he thought before starting with the facts, "Well, she's about my height, you know, average Earth height. Uh, she has brownish hair… I guess you could say that she's a light brunette? Her eyes I don't know, I've never looked, really, she's not so much from my department, I only see her in a passing for the most part. Well, sometimes she does come to ask me things, but I'm usually buried in something, so… I have a bad habit of not looking at people when I talk to them at work…"

Duo just nodded. "Yeah, we never look at each other when we're working, well, for the most part," he added, "But that's cause our professions are, reaaaaaally different… So what do you think of her, if you don't mind"

Wufei felt awkward again. _Duo might just be interested because he's a good friend, but, what if I say something and he gets jealous or something. Damn it, how did I get myself into this mess anyway?_

"Uh, well, I don't know. I hardly know her, so it's entirely out of place to say anything like that about her. I mean, yes, she is attractive, but I don't know her well. I'm not going to judge her on her looks."

This made Duo smile. "Gee 'Fei, you're a true gentleman! I'm the same way. That makes me feel better. At least I know you're not some crummy sex fiend!" He ended with what appeared to be a joke. "But really, I think it's good of you not to just like someone for how they look, even if it does help a little" He said and smiled lightly.

In all truth, Duo wasn't a half-bad looking person. His hair was rather neatly pulled back and his bangs had been trimmed to that they were no longer a messy mass atop his face. He was wearing a blue button down tee, probably his work shirt, and a pair of dark slacks, probably to hide oil stains, although the shirt didn't bear any. The top few buttons of the shirt were undone exposing his collarbone. Wufei quickly looked away.

_Don't do that,_ he told himself, _it's creepy, and look away. Don't do it_. Wufei was starting to wonder if maybe Duo wasn't gay after all, he did, after all, seem very interested in the woman at Wufei's work.

Wufei looked back to Duo and caught his eyes. Eyes, yes there is a reason people notice those. That's why Duo had asked about her eyes. But why was he looking at Duo's. Sure they were an odd blue-ish color, purple even, but why? He looked into his lap trying to figure out what was going on in his head. Duo was perfectly silent, as if he knew Wufei was confused.

"I should be going now. I have work to do," He said and got up, Duo imitated and led him back to the door. "Perhaps we can meet again while I am here. Lunch or something?"

"Sure thing buddy, it's a date." Duo said and, for the umphteenth time today gave his classic chuckle. It was a good chuckle, but Wufei feared what it meant almost as much as he feared the words.

"Yes, a date between friends, I suppose" He said quietly and walked out and back to his hotel room to gather his thoughts.

* * *

_Notes from Enai: "Ai Ya" is Chinese for "My God!" or similar exclamation while "Shen" is simply "God"_

_I don't pretend to know Chinese, so if the way I throw the words around is wrong, please let me know. I'm using a Chinese-English on-line dictionary, and there will be a good bit of the language thrown in seeing as Wufei is Chinese, and all. All Chinese will be explained at the end of the part it is in._

_FINAL EDITED VERSION! _


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 5**

Duo watched his friend out and closed the door behind him. He stood there for a minute looking through the door at the space Wufei had just occupied. Letting out a sigh he turned around and walked back to the chair he had sat in and glanced over to the chair Wufei had just occupied. That was Hilde's favorite chair. In all honesty, she forbade anyone from sitting in it, but Duo felt like it was the only chair that suited Wufei, so he hadn't mentioned anything.

Letting out another sigh he adverted his attention to the half full bottle in front of him.

_Half full, aye? I suppose it should be half empty since I just drank out half of it,_ he thought. _Maybe that's why I can't help but think that there's still a chance for him. Obviously he likes her. I just don't know if that's a good thing or not. I mean. Ayyye…_

Getting up again he picked up his bottle and walked back to the kitchenette and put the drink back in the almost-empty fridge. The fridge that should have food in it but since Hilde always did the shopping wasn't. He had been running on bare minimums in every aspect since she had gone in; spending most of his time with her- despite how much he hated hospitals- worrying about her, or at work. Of course there was the usual twinge he had gotten over the past few years about wishing Wufei could be with him, but since it was such a regular occurrence it really shouldn't be included.

"Excuses are excuses I suppose… Should get food…" Sighing again he went into his room and changed out of his work clothes, it was already four, there was no reason to go to work unless he was going to work a full shift, since it would take just that to get into and finish most jobs, it was a hassle to ask questions about a job and walk in halfway, slowed down the process. They all felt that way, so he would leave it at that and work an extra shift somewhere down the road, maybe over the weekend.

Deep in his mind he kept going over Wufei, not just his physical body, which was fascinating and beautiful on its own, but how he had acted. He had seemed somewhat different than Duo had remembered, but he couldn't put a finger on what. Duo couldn't lie about the fact that as soon as Wufei stepped into his home he had completely forgotten about Hilde. In fact, though he felt guilty to admit it, he had felt happier than he had in months. Wufei was in his apartment, _the_ Wufei! He smiled as he got his keys and a light jacket, black and red of course, his usual colors, well, when he wasn't wearing black and blue. White highlights on most of his clothes, sometimes unperceivable by most other people. He had always felt it was better to dress the way he thought about himself, and quite frankly, that wasn't too high. He deserved black for his lack of purity, he had committed most sins, deadly or otherwise, and done them several times, the white was for the few times when his black heart told him to do something that wasn't, as far as he was aware or believed, bad. Of course he always did what his heart wanted, but he still felt that he was more bad than good, so warned others of it by means of his dress. The red for death and pestilence that seemed to plague all who tried to get close to him (which actually made it easier to cope with the Wufei situation because he would never wish ill of Wufei) The blue was for night, since it was always easier to steal when it was dark, regardless of what other people said, and also because it was a somber color and he felt it would help to contrast his personality; I mean honestly, if you saw some hyperactive, bouncy, flamboyant man in bright flashy colors jumping and dancing around and having fun, wouldn't you run?(by flamboyant I mean talkative, gossipy and energetic, not gay, even though that is true as well)

"All I need now is more time to _do_ and less time to think, I've had too much of that lately" He said aloud to no-one in particular as he locked his door behind him and walked down the stairs to go get groceries from the mart down the block. 'Fei, he thought, don't go rushing home too quickly. I want to remember you enough to last me the next however many years.

* * *

Wufei walked halfway down the street he was on when he decided it was time to stop. He had been walking for the past two hours with absolutely no clue where he was or where he was trying to go. He didn't want to go to his hotel for fear that Duo might have called or something, during the course of their conversation they had exchanged numbers so they could contact each other if need be. Knowing Duo as he felt he did, he figured that Duo could find a good excuse to call no matter what time hour or reason.

Sighing he turned into some coffee pub and sat down by the window and looked out it without seeing anything. Asking for a green tea he sat in silence in an attempt to further analyze Duo's behavior.

_Alright_, he started, _I know he's gay, well I think I do. No starting like this will never work. Un-biased Wufei, you're a Preventor, unbiased until proof. What do I have?_

He remembered looking at Duo's exposed neck, then the eyes. Physically shaking off the thought and glaring into his tea he tried to start over and felt a slight redness cross his face.

_Why? Why's that in my head? Inconsequential! I have those too, there is **nothing** special about them! What do I know about him? He works as a mechanic. He's my age. I have no record of his past life off the top of my head. I've never see him date…But I have seen him rudely look people up and down, perverted American._

He sighed and took a sip of his tea. Cold already, he must have been sitting for longer than he realized. He thought he felt a shift in the room and looked over to the waitress who was trying to convince a couple that had just come in to not disturb…him? Window seat, he guessed correctly. They were insisting in loud whispers that they _really_ wanted the window seat, **needed** it even.

_How can you need a seat_? He thought and looked back out the window, the picture of Duo sitting in front of him like some abandoned god…

"WHAT THE FUCK!" He cried out loud without realizing it at first. The store, small and rather empty other than employees and a few couples or people working on paperwork in booths, turned to him. He glared enough Hell into his tea that he was sure if he touched it he would have burnt his skin off. The waitress who had been trying to keep the couple from replacing Wufei, walked over to him looking kind of shocked and concerned. He didn't hear her at first as he was repeatedly reprimanding himself inwardly.

"Uh, sir? Is there a problem? Can I help you?" she said with a hint of worry in her voice.

Wufei tried his mightiest to repress his glare but mostly lost and gave her a relatively psychotic expression.

"Yeah, kill him. I can't stand him anymore," he said and looked into the space that the other chair was creating. "Damn him to hell, how does he do that?"

The girl was entirely confused, the couple still standing where they had been arguing before, but no longer looking like they wanted the seat he was in.

"Excuse me? Kill?" She tried to put a hand on his shoulder as she gasped.

"OH! I see, do you want to talk?" she offered and caused Wufei to give her an odd, but no longer homicidal, look.

"Excuse me? I have a feeling that we are operating on different wavelength, your transmission didn't make sense in my database," he said looking at her hard-pressed to get an explanation.

"Well, ok." She said and sat down across from him. "Well you suddenly cursed out, so obviously it's important, and you seemed to be kind of unhappy about something, but you keep dazing off into the window, so just assumed…" she trailed off. She had a soft voice and Wufei felt sure that he was the only person who could hear her. He looked at her as if with the words 'please continue to decode that' written across his face in replacement of his features, but she didn't and instead played with her hands on her lap.

"Just assumed what?" he started for her. "That I'm some kind of psycho?" he offered.

"No! Nothing like that, I just thought that, you know, you were having relationship problems with your boyfriend…"

Blank stare. "What?"

"Well you seemed upset and, I don't know…like you missed him, but at the same time wanted to keep him away from him and be alone so that… I don't know. It just happens sometimes, like after you get into an argument… I know how you feel." She said, pretty much allowing herself to believe she was right in her assumption.

"I do _not_ have a boyfriend, or any male interest, thank you I just want to kill…" he let out an unintelligible mutter and looked again at his tea, which looked like hell had left it alone for now. She was silent for a moment and when Wufei looked up she saw a sheepish grin on her face.

"Oh, well that changes everything. You just don't know it yet is all."

A blank stare was the response, again. "Excuse me? Could you repeat that again? I don't know it yet? What is _it_" He said an eyebrow slightly raised. She just smiled.

"Don't worry about it, you'll figure it out. It's tragic, actually," she said with a sigh, "All the cute ones are gay…" Then she got up and walked away to resume with the couple explaining, very quietly, that 'the man at the window is having relationship problems and should be left alone to sort things out'.

_There s no way. I am not gay_, he tried convincing himself and remembered the man on the flight, the uncomfortable, yet interesting feeling it had given him. He thought about back during the war, and even to Treiz. No there was nothing unique about that, he respected the man, respect is perfectly acceptable. Once again Duo came into his head.

_Or maybe I am? Is that possible?_ He asked himself, _Nataku, you women sure know a lot, don't you? Nataku, help me, would I dishonor your death if I fell for a man? Would I be a disgrace to you? And worst of all, how can I accept that?_

He finished up his tea and looked out the window again. Then left and went to do the paperwork for his report.

* * *

Duo sat in line for groceries for way longer that he had wanted. That's right, 3.895 minutes.

"Damn it come on already," he muttered under his breath. Clearly there was a reason Hilde did the shopping, Duo could not stand waiting in line for any food items for longer that 3.5 minutes, in fact, he had a time limit for any sort of lines, depending on how much he felt they were needed to be convenient, for instance he would gladly wait for a half an hour for a 45.12 second roller coaster, or 20 minutes for a customer who was picking up their car late, and so forth.

"Four minutes, come on!" He said louder this time. "I have shit to do!" He said paying no mind at the mother in front of him who had glared at him. Her child was in the wagon and turned to look at him. The mother hushed the child before she could ask what 'shit' meant. The woman then took her time handing her credit card to the cashier and Duo felt obliged to slap his open palm onto his forehead in protest of her action. As soon as all her foods were back in her cart she turned back to him. He read her 'I'm going to scold you now' expression as soon as she cast it and spoke first.

"Thank god I'm gay, I'll never have to deal with a wife who would annoy me with stupid rules." Glares were exchanged and she walked off. Duo looked at his watch again. "Fuckin' A, man," he said to no one in particular and dumped his things in front of the man behind the counter. "Here, ring it up quick. Charge it to this" he said and practically forced the card to the boys hands and waited 'patiently' as the boy scanned his things.

Making a lunge for the door as soon as he got his bag he stopped out side. "I hate lines… I shoulda just… No stealing's illegal, and its not like there's no food in the house, just that I can't cook it…TV dinners. Yay."

And he walked on back home.

Damit, I know as soon as I get home I'm going to call him…

Sighing he gave into the urge to call and told himself that one call a day would be alright, just not to over do it. Wufei is straight and as close as I can get him is how I want to keep him.

He plopped his things down on the counter and picked up the phone…

* * *

Enai's note:

by 'flamboyant' I mean: talkative, gossipy, and energetic, not gay, even though it does apply. At this point only Hilde and Jeff know that Duo is gay(or at least so far as you know - ).


	6. Chapter 6

Together part 6

Paz Enai

What does Enai like? When the quarter is over! HEADACHE ABATE! (soon) Then it shall be a pause, seeing as I won a trip to disney with my family... then we shall see what the new quarter brings as I am to design Tora-con logos and doodles. ONWARD with story!

* * *

**Part 6**

Wufei had been sitting at the small desk for an hour and a half now and not a damned thing was getting done, he knew there was not much to do, he knew that if only he could get started that he would finish in under an hour. Of course he could, _if_ he could. He was thinking back to the lady at the café, then to Duo at his apartment.

_Why did I have to come here? Why couldn't I have waited a few more hours? Duo would have called he would have apologized, both of us would have, and everything would have been fine, really, it would have. But no, here I am, on L2 - with Duo. In the same sector - as Duo. Only two blocks away - from Duo_.

Cursing himself inwardly for about the ninth time that hour he tried once again to do his work. About the last thing he wanted about now was to hear that voice. If that man was to come over or call or anything, Wufei would just burst, he really would.

"I. Am. Not. Gay. I'm not fond of gaiety, and I don't need someone, much less a guy. A woman would at least be… more, if not by much, subservient. And…" He tried to drown the thought by imagining millions of ways to kill Duo, it was fun, but it only made him realize how much more the thought was bothering him, and how much more it could be true. "Only the weak would fret over such a thing. I am not weak. Only the weak are gay. I am not gay." He pointed out to himself, though the argument was none to convincing in his eyes. He tried to pretend that it was anyway, though.

Biiiing! The sound of the hotels crap-of-a-phone rang.

"Duo, if that is you… Hang up now while you have the chance!" He yelled at the phone and glared at it the same way he had at his tea earlier.

Biiiing!

"Bao zu, Maxwell."

Biiiin-click

Staring at it in wonderment Wufei turned back to his work. The phone didn't ring again for the rest of the night.

* * *

Duo hung up the phone and stared at his hand on it for a while. 

"I know you were there, Wufei. Why didn't you want to pick up? Damn…"

Duo mused out loud as he rubbed his chest. He could have sworn someone had just hurled a lance through his chest and that he had barely come out of it alive.

Turning back to the kitchenette that was behind him he wondered if he should actually try to cook something without Hilde around, he had bought some regular food and a few TV dinners, but not much. He still had the ever-present hope that Hilde would be fine the next day and come home and be able to cook meals. He knew it wouldn't happen, but he figured it was a good hope to try and hold onto, at least a little.

Rummaging through his grocery bag and put stuff where he thought Hilde had told him they belonged, she usually shopped, so he always forgot.

Staring at one of the frozen dinners he decided that he just wouldn't eat. Sure it was food, but it wasn't the same as a regular cooked meal and he'd been eating them for over two weeks now, almost. TV dinners for lunch and dinner for 2 weeks. That was too ridiculous for him to think about for long and he just put them in the freezer and walked into the sitting room, or as Hilde called it, the living room.

The TV stayed off, as it usually did when he was the only one home, and he stared at the blank screen as if it had all the answers to the questions that were radiating from his eyes, readable to anyone who cared to look hard enough to see them.

"I don't feel great... It's been a long day I guess I should try to sleep." He said and got up, not expecting much sleep to be in his near future.

* * *

Wufei finally got his report finished and closed the envelope and put it away in his briefcase. Looking at his watch, already 2 am, he decided that it would be best to wait a few hours before calling Sally to let her know he was done and try to worm an earlier flight out of her, though he knew it would not work to his liking. He desperately wanted to call now, but for some reason, even when there wasn't much work to do, the office got incredibly hectic at this time of day. 

Sighing inwardly he relocated himself to the crappy bed, everything on this colony had turned crappy in his eyes since he had gotten here. Not at first, granted, just since he left Duo's place and that coffee shop. Flopping onto his back still wearing his office shirt, the tie had been removed and several more buttons undone in the course of his attempting to work, he tried to think of ways that might actually convince Sally to send him home. He couldn't think of anything she would believe though.

_If that idiot thinks he can lead me by my hand I will chop it off. I can already see him plotting against me, American bastard_… Wufei ranted to himself.

Without realizing it, he had nodded off and managed to have the most bazaar dream. He woke up to the phone ringing. Looking at the clock as he complained to himself that it was rude to call extremely early in the morning he realized that it was actually already 1030.

"Aa, the injustice of Jet-lag." He said to himself as he picked up the phone, his dream coming back to mind.

"Yo-" started the familiar voice, but Wufei was in his dream again, a blush crossed his face and without realizing it he shouted out.

"DAMMIT MAXWELL! I'M NOT A FUCKING WOMAN!"

The other end of the phone was silent. Wufei suddenly realizing that it was. in fact, Maxwell on the other side of the phone fell silent as well. Hoping the other thought he meant that he was not a woman in that calling at all hours was not acceptable, he tried to speak again, voice much quieter than usual, his blush now across his face and on the back of his neck he rejoiced in that at least the other couldn't see him.

"Sorry Maxwell, but I'm still suffering Jet Lag. Eh, what was it that you wanted?"

Duo made a coughing noise on the other end of the line and Wufei immediately assumed he was trying not to laugh, Wufei had never snapped like that before in front of any of the others and he was positive Duo was getting a fair kick out of it. Finally he spoke.

"Ehm, I just ah, heh, wanted to know if you wanted me to show you around the colony? I assume you need to eat sometime, right? I can show you where the grocery store is and some nice, as well as cheap, diners are. Trust me, cheep in some places gets better food than expensive."

Wufei could almost see Duo's crooked smile and cursed his ancestors under his breath, while praising the manager of the hotel for not installing vid-phones in the hotel rooms. Shortly agreeing and deciding where to meet, Duo was to come and 'pick up' Wufei at the hotel, they hung up. Wufei felt odd that Duo had used those specific words and was intensely hoping that the man was not hitting on him, even though as of yet had no proof on the other being gay.

His mind wandered back to the dream and his blush came back. Strange where your mind goes when you sleep, though Wufei was definitely a man, and he was happy that was true. His only major concern was that in this day and age men could marry men, and even though in the dream he was a woman he still feared the possibility.

* * *

Walking with more of a skip than usual Duo went to the shop briefly before walking on his way to the hotel, Wufei had given him the room number and all. Duo knew that he had only suggested to pick-up Wufei there because he wanted to know where he was staying, but Wufei seemed to not have noticed, or at least not care. Jeff met Duo as he entered and walked up to him. 

"Duo, take the week off. I'll let you have half pay, but take off, trust me, you need it, too much stress isn't good and you're still young, I don't wan it to get to you too soon. But if a week is not enough I'll let you take off longer, just that I can't pay you for that time."

"Uhh, wow... I was actually going to ask for today off… but I guess that works as well… Uhm…"

"Go, have fun with your friend while he's here. I know how you feel and all about all that's been going on and I know it's a lot to deal with so try to relax at least a little while you can. And don't worry, I'm still the only one who knows." He finished concluding with a nod that meant he hadn't told a soul, not even an alley cat, what Duo had told him. Duo just nodded and then walked to Wufei's hotel.

Knocking hard on the door once he waited for the other man to open the door and waved when he saw something obscure the peek-hole. He laughed at the fact that no matter how much technology you have there is still no better way to see what was on the other side of a door than to poke a hole through it. The door opened and he looked, shockingly, at a casually dressed Wufei. Not even any of that traditional Chinese garb he had worn during the war. He had on a pair of khaki cargo pants, baggy none the less, and a faded blue tee shirt, the kind that was more tight than loose and would be sold at any big name clothes store, but the faded characters were in Chinese. He had probably gotten it at Gap-China or something. Duo liked being able to see a little more of Wufei's flesh than what his white coat had allowed back during the war, or the spacesuits. He always, well since the war, had wanted to see a Wufei in just that blue tank-top that he had once or twice seen him wear over the comm.-link in the suits. This was, however, just as nice, it fit him well. And although he made it look like he wasn't eyeing the other down, he did take in the bit of eye candy and stored it away for future reference.

"I see you're all ready!" Duo chimed as he noticed the others hair was dripping. _A shower too, gee man, you gave me a lot to work from today,_ he chuckled inwardly. "What's the occasion man? Going on a date?"

Wufei grimaced slightly at first, but replied with a sharp grin, "I thought you said it was a date."

Duo's grin spread wider.

"Please do tell me, Duo, that there is no more to this colony than the hospital, your apartment, and my hotel?" he inquired as he raised an eyebrow as if wondering why the other was being so quiet.

* * *

"Of course not, there are far better places than any of those," he said, amazingly his smile managed to get a bit wider and Wufei wondered how it was physically possible to do so. 

Wufei quickly, but intensely, took in what it was that Duo was wearing, not hiding the fact hat he had done so at all, after all, he wasn't eying Duo, merely looking at his dress. "Why all of the dark colors Duo?"

"Who me?" Duo said as he looked down to his outfit, "Suites me, don'cha think?" He said and stuffed a hand in the most-definitely Goth-Faszion black and red pants. They had black and red and chain straps crisscrossing in every which way on them. His shirt was a net shirt and was over a black and red striped tank-top.

"It's … interesting." Wufei said, not sure if he liked the look or despised it. It was one of the two. Perhaps Duo was right and it did suit him. "It looks uncomfortable… and heavy"

Once again Duo looked down, more to the pants this time, "The pants weigh like, 3 pounds or something, with all the chain and fabric, but that's why they have a belt, I guess" He said an pointed to the spiked chain that acted as a belt, Wufei quickly looked away from the belt.

_DO NOT LOOK THERE_, he yelled at himself. Of course Duo was the kind of idiot who would point to the part of the belt below his navel…well below his navel. Wufei had noticed that the pants were riding rather low, despite the belt. He assumed that Duo liked them there and tried to ignore it. He felt a slight blush as he recalled the dream again and scowled.

Duo, seeming to take the scowl as a sign to stop pointing before Wufei killed him, stepped back and instead used his hand to point to the stairs at the end of the hall. "Shall we go?" He said sounding somewhat worried; he must have assumed he had offended Wufei. If only he knew that Wufei was actually trying to ignore the homosexuality he wasn't sure he had, and that that was the actual reason for his blushing, and not because he was offended.

Sighing inwardly Wufei started for the stairs and Duo started walking as Wufei passed him.

"As soon as we get out side I'll show you around." Duo stated and Wufei merely nodded.

* * *

Duo was quite pleased, he had managed to show Wufei all the important places in the colony sector before noon. They had only had a quick bite earlier so Duo was par for a larger meal, seeing as he hadn't eaten last night, even though he had eaten more for his 'quick bite' than Wufei had. 

Wufei seemed almost inapproachable the entire day and Duo wasn't sure what was the matter, so he decided that sitting down for lunch and talking would be a good idea, he had already told Wufei that he had been put on necessary-leave-of-work by Jeff. He wasn't sure if he understood the others reaction to that. He had seemed as aggravated as he had been pleased by the information, or at least that's what Duo _thought_ he saw in the others dark, mysterious and enchantingly beautiful eyes.

Letting out an exaggerated sigh Duo contemplated where to eat. Deciding that it would be best for his 'guest' to decide he spun to face him mid-pace.

"Fei, what do you like to eat? I'll eat just about anything so I'll leave it up to you, since it's your first time here and all."

Wufei looked at him a moment and then responded, "What did you call me? Fe-i?"

Puzzled, and showing it on his face, Duo replied, "Yeah, Fei. Like, if you took off the 'Wu' part of your name. I mean 'Wu' sounds cool too, I guess, but... Fei, I don't know. Why?"

Wufei shrugged, "My name's not long to begin with, I've never had a nickname before."

"Really? Weird, I've had lots, and my names only three letters long!" this merited an eyebrow raise from the other man and Duo smiled "No really I have!"

"Like what, I can't imagine that there were all that many."

"Ive been called Du, Do-pronounced d oh- 'D.U.', uhmm. Well I've been addressed as 'stupid' but I don't think that counts," Duo rambled and started to walk, " I've been called 'D-U oh 3'... don't ask though, you don't want to know. I also have a bunch for my last name, but not as many. Like Max, or Mah, or whatever. Oh, I've also been called DuoM, DM…. there are a lot, amazingly. Maybe it's just an American thing, huh?" he asked to no one in particular.

Wufei just nodded.

* * *

Something about Duo rambling was intoxicating, he was talking about nothing important, but how he spoke told so much of who he was, how he behaved. While they sat across from each other at the small diner, Wufei found himself listening to the words not to hear only what it was that was being said, but to find how each action of Duo's voice, hand motions and facial expressions fit into who he was. He was an optimist, he liked having fun and, apparently, hated seeing people suffer. Wufei gathered that the war must have been harsh on him. But to be this overly optimistic when Hilde was severely ill meant that Duo had faced much worse. Wufei gathered that he must have had a terrible childhood and presumed that, in Duo's eyes, things weren't as bad as they could be. 

Raising his eyebrow to something Duo had said about 'stereotypical clothes' he noted too that he was an immense rebel. No wonder he was a pilot in the biggest war known to mankind. A veteran… hard to think of it that way, being a veteran at only 15 as they all had been.

Wufei's feature change was immediately picked up by Duo. Wufei was slightly surprised by this because he had always pissed Sally off with his 'unreadable features'. That Duo could tell he'd delved into a dark memory was something that Wufei was greatly appreciative of.

_So he's observant, wears dark clothes, acts rebellious, and possibly had a tough childhood. Hmm, guess it's possible that Duo was a terrorist or a thief his whole life up till the war, exact opposite of me. My hardships began with the war, though I guess you could say that Duo is still facing hardships, even if they appear, to him, as not as severe, or that he has merely gotten used to the feel of pain._

"What do you mean 'stereo typical clothes'" Wufei finally spoke up and Duo became all smiles once again.

"Well, for starts what you are wearing. Name brand shirt right?" Wufei nodded. "Stereotypical. Spend more money that you have to on a worn out shirt. I don't know about you, but if I really wanted to, and wore it enough, I could wear out a shirt in under a year, so why buy one that's already worn looking? I never got that. It's just one of those trends than keeps coming back. Like a plague, or something, heh, heh." He said and laughed wholly enjoying the irony of spending lots of money on worn clothes.

"Well what about you? Goth-Faszion is a name brand, granted of a different style. Not that I've ever been in one, but I understand that their prices are even higher than Old Navy and Gap put together." Wufei countered.

"Yeah, that's true but I didn't get these in Goth-Faszion, ha ha. Thrift store. The whole outfit was 15dollars. Fooled you didn't I? I never shop at name brands, and half the things I thrift I alter, like this, it came with the chains and that was it, I added the spikes from some clean scrap at the shop and melded them on one chain and converted it into a belt and took spare fabric from the pant legs, cause these were some DAMNED long pants, and made them into all the straps, just so happens that the inside of the pants are red, it looks really cool under black light because the red is iridescent and shines through the black. See, non-stereotypical" he said and pointed to himself with his thumb.

Wufei chuckled, "Yeah but that really doesn't matter if you _look_ stereotypical, now does it?"

"I guess you just have to know how to look at the clothes, I have had people come up to me and say they like how I altered my clothes, whatever I may be wearing, and not all of them are 'goth' or 'punk' or whatever genre is supposed to wear clothes like this.

"That's interesting. So some people can actually tell a difference?"

"HAHA I guess you just aren't a sewer Wufei!" he laughed and leaned back into his booth chair.

"Wait, you _sew_!" Wufei replied a bit loudly and surprised, Wufei never knew a man who bragged about sewing, which was interesting to know.

Duo just looked at him blankly for all of ten seconds before bursting into laughter. "How th'Hell'd you think I customized the pants man? Haha yeah I sew, comes in handy when you rip seams and stuff. I don't know anything elaborate, don't get me wrong, and I'm no fag, I don't have a sewing machine or anything, I sew whatever I can do by hand, takes for-fucking-ever, but I'm really happy with it when it's done, you know? Come on, don't tell me you don't have some weird quirk or another!" Duo replied and leaned heavily in the table.

Wufei blushed and looked away.

* * *

"I'd rather not talk about it." He said as he looked out the window next to their booth. Of course this only helped to peak the other boys interest and so he pestered the Asian again… and again and again until he finally called out "ALRIGHT! I'll tell you, Stars-Almighty, Duo, you can be a pain. What do you want me from me, huh?" 

"I want the truth of course!" He exclaimed, thankfully the diner was mostly vacant otherwise Duo would fear that Wufei would assassinate him for being so loud and embarrassing him. "You need to tell me what it is and why you do it, or how you learned or something! No all of it, actually!"

"You never told me how you learned how to sew" Wufei countered.

"I didn't? Well that's because I never _learned_ so much as taught myself how to do it. I kind of had to know how to do it in case my clothes ripped or something when I was on…younger." He said and stopped dead.

Duo could see in Wufei's eyes that he really wanted to ask him what he had almost said, but they remained silent. Realizing that they'd been silent for a while, and seeing that they were the loudest ones in the diner, Duo tried to relax Wufei with a smile, granted fake. Wufei, sighed, apparently aware of its fakeness, but let Duo have his privacy.

Finally breaking the silence Wufei started, "Ah, Duo _must_ I say it? I find it highly humiliating…"

"Hah, then why do you do it? . Hell man, remember it takes the manliest of men to wear pink, only a brave man fully aware of his masculinity can pull it off and do it right, same goes with sewing. I embrace the fact that I can do something most other men can't so should you!"

"You will laugh when I tell you."

"I promise I wont" Duo said smile broadening, from the sounds of it this was going to be good. He hoped that it was something like porn or something, not so much because he would want to see that, but mostly because he couldn't imagine Wufei doing it. Okay so he COULD imagine it, but not without pulling some strings of the actual Wufei and changing him into the _fantasy_ Wufei. But he wasn't going to get into that now, not in a diner with the _actual_ Wufei right before his very own Damned-to-Hell eyes.

Wufei was silent for a few more moments and then finally leaned over the table a little, he didn't need to lean over too much because Duo was practically on his side of the booth with how far he was leaning over it. Releasing a final sigh he let it come out. "I- I write poetry…" closing his eyes in resolve he leaned back down into his chair.

Duo just stared at him for a while before sinking back into his side. He took that in, then analyzed it again, then again.

* * *

Wufei was sitting there waiting for the laughter to start. He knew t would come any moment, after all, what kind of man writes poetry? Then again, perhaps it was the same type of man that sew clothes. The laughter had not yet come and Wufei opened his. Looking back into his own were two calm eyes. There was no smile, fake or otherwise and he wasn't sure what that meant at first. After some time he decided that this must be Duo's 'thinking' expression. 

"Wufei?"

This must have been it, Wufei braced himself. "Yes."

"Are you fucking me?"

"No"

Silence. Wufei looked out the window. He felt Duo's inquisitive stare on him.

"You sure you're not fucking me?"

With a sigh he said "no, I'm not 'fucking' you, Duo."

"TSHH! Man, you had me all worked up for that? AUGH! I was expecting something good!" The other exclaimed and Wufei turned to face him sharply. Completely unsure of what that statement meant or how to take it Wufei stared a moment longer at the other man.

"What? Wait, Duo…?"

"Well, seriously man, that's no different than sewing or wearing pink. Tsh, I was expecting something totally different, like something that you would never in a million years do. Like, I don't know, recreational sex or something." This suggestion caused the other to laugh. Indeed that was something that was uncharacteristic of Wufei.

"Were you expecting me to do porn or something Maxwell?"

"Well, actually, yeah. That would explain all the avoidance a lot better than poetry. I mean, Wufei, I half figured you to be the type anyway, I mean, you always were a loner and stuff during the war and hid in more or less uninhabited places. It must have been beautiful, how could you _not_ be a poet or something?"

Wufei was stunned. Duo might be the one person who understood him, well, at least a little. But even at that Wufei was stunned. Sally had tried for years to get into the boys head and understand him and then Duo, who hardly knew Wufei during the war and who only called on occasion and exchanged a few emails a month since the war, was able to get it and not find it funny, or ridiculous at all.

"You don't find it odd, that a man like me does poetry. Duo think about it."

From the look on Duo's face he did just that. "I'm sorry, I still don't see how that's odd, Wufei."

"Congratulations, you are the only one."

* * *

Paz's notes: 

Bao Zu is "die suddenly" (proabably in very bad context, my appologies)

2 am L2 X1722 colony time is 6 pm on Wufei's home on Earth, if you were curious XD

Goth-Faszion is a made up clothes store, if one really exists it was not my intention to promote it, it is also not my intention to promote Gap or Old navy, I support Duo's 'thift it, baby' attitude, seeing as I am an art student and weird like that XD (it's not weird, its NORMAL!)


End file.
